The University of Central Florida and Office of Emergency Management have announced the closing of all UCF campus operations, including Rosen and satellite campuses.

Classes end at 3 p.m. Wednesday and all campus operations close beginning at 5 p.m. Instructors have the discretion of cancelling or continuing classes that began at 3 p.m.

Hurricane Matthew, expected to impact Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, has led to the closing of Orange County Public Schools, Seminole County Public Schools, Seminole State College, Valencia College, and the University of Central Florida.

UCF Housing: Unless they plan to stay with family or friends, students who live in the following UCF and UCF-affiliated housing communities should ride out the storm in their housing units: Rosen, Towers, Northview, Knights Circle, and Pointe at Central. Students should plan on having an appropriate supply of food on hand for as long as three days.

Students who live in Greek housing, Lake Claire, Neptune, Apollo, Libra, Nike, and Hercules will not be permitted to stay in their housing units after 7 p.m. Thursday. Unless they plan to stay with family and friends, they will be assigned a ride-out location.

If students choose this option, they should plan to stay as long as three days and should bring an appropriate supply of food, clothing, and medications for that time. Students also need to bring their own bedding.

“The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and visitors was paramount in our decision to close,” said UCF President John C. Hitt.

“We urge everyone in our UCF family to take precautions so they and their loved ones are fully prepared for the storm.”

’63 South and Knightro’s will be open for their regular hours on Wednesday. Campus vendors and dining locations will be closed Thursday through Saturday.

Campus vendors and dining locations will be closed.

Ride-Out locations are:

Lake Claire residents: Nicholson School of Communications

Greek housing and Neptune residents: Health and Public Affairs I

Apollo residents and those with special needs: Mathematical Sciences

Libra, Nike, and Hercules residents: Classroom Building I

Ride-out locations will open at 3 p.m. For those who need transportation to ride-out locations, shuttles will pick up students at the closest Black and Gold shuttle stops from 3-5 p.m. Housing personnel will staff the locations.

UCF regional campus locations will follow the decisions made by their respective host state college. UCF’s Cocoa and Palm Bay campuses, which share locations with Eastern Florida State College, closed at noon today and will be closed Thursday through Sunday.

Orlando International Airport will remain open. Flights to, through, and from Orlando, Sanford, and other airports may be modified without modification fees.

Airlines will waive modification fees to flights involving these airports beginning Wednesday and lasting as late as Friday, depending on the airline, and allow for changes to be made within two weeks of the original flight date, according to recent announcements.